Where's God When You Need Him?

By -


When bad things happen, where is God and the good things he brings? This a common question that many people have today when going through times of suffering. Over 3,200 years ago (around 1191 BC), Gideon asked this very question. Yes, Gideon the mighty warrior of God struggled with the same question
“if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian” (Judges 6:13 ESV)
Israel had been under oppression of the Midianites (also the Amalekites and other eastern peoples) for seven years when Gideon asks God his question. Anytime the Israelites would farm, the Midianites would come and take all of their produce and livestock (Jdg 6:3-5). The oppression of Midian was so severe, many of the Israelites hid in caves. Grain was so scarce, people would stuff it down wine presses in order to hide it (Jdg 6:11).

In the midst of Midian’s iron fist, the Angel of God appeared to Gideon and told him God was with him,a mighty warrior (Jdg 6:12). Here is where Gideon asks “God if you are really with us (me), where are your acts?”. Gideon made an appeal to God’s works when he delivered Israel from Egypt, such as the miracle of the Red Sea. If God had been so good to Israel back then, why were they under Midian’s oppression?

Around the same time God sent a prophet to the people to remind them of the promise made long ago after they were delivered from Egypt- obey me and you will be blessed, disobey me and you will be cursed (Deut 28). God told them not to worship false gods, yet here they were even after God did do amazing works, turning their attention to Canaanite deities (Jdg 6:7-8). So Gideon’s question was answered by the prophet- Israel was disobedient to God. Gideon’s claim that God had forsaken them, had seemed to be true- until God gave his reply:
“Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” (Judg 6:14 ESV)
Unfortunately, this answer did not satisfy Gideon, because he doubted that he could really save Israel from Midian. So when things are awry why aren’t God’s deeds present? It seems from this passage, that when God’s deeds are not present in our lives,it does not mean his watchful eye has left us. Oftentimes there is a good deed coming we don’t see or maybe he has something in store that is greater than our present suffering. Like Gideon, who was the least important man in the Tribe of Manasseh (Jdg 6:15), we doubt God’s ability to bring goodness out of bad circumstances. God punishes evil, but he always is willing to restore your relationship with him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Soul-Searching: Psalm 139

By -
Image
What does it mean to search for something? A search is not a low-energy effort to find something. A search is a deep, intense probing that will not stop until something is found.  How do we search? We pour through our environment intently looking to find that which we are seeking. That is what we must ask God to do in our own hearts, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”- Psa 139:23-24 In Psalm 139, David is both asking God to and recognizes that he searches the heart. This idea of God searching our heart sandwiches (inclusio) the body of the Psalm, which describes God’s intimate knowledge of us in great detail, “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down… and are acquainted with all my ways.”-  Psa 139:2 “Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heav
Read more

Little Faith or Mustard Seed Faith?

By -
Image
The healing of the demoniac boy offers much enlightenment regarding the nature of faith. In the previous post I explored how faith (an action), though genuine, may come with a sense of doubt or unbelief (a noun). In this post we are going to explore the bewildering reason why the Apostles could not cast it out. To be very clear I have done a post before dedicated to exploring why the Apostles could not drive out the demon- while my previous study was right, I largely missed the point and neglected the more specific lessons on faith. After the Apostles could not cast the demon out from the boy, they asked Jesus why they could not cast it out. Jesus gave two responses: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer” (see Jesus Heals the Demon )  and  “Because of your  little faith . For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed , you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you”  This an
Read more

How to Store up Treasure in Heaven

By -
Image
You’ve probably heard the saying that we should “store up treasures in Heaven” instead of focusing on earthly possessions. This phrase is used by Jesus numerous times and once by Paul, but is first and most famously used in the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not lay up [treasure] for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”- Matt 6:19-21 ESV The question then becomes, “How do I seek treasure in Heaven?”. There is great news. We do not have to speculate or even infer wisdom from the Bible indirectly. Did you know the Bible tells us directly how to store treasure in Heaven? Let’s take a look directly at how we “lay up treasure in Heaven”. Paul’s Instruction  So how do we acquire this treasure that Jesus referred to? Well Paul gives us an exp
Read more